jibalmore



HOSE Comuna.

No. 475,738. .i Patented Mayl; 1892,15

' INVENTORS;

WITNESSES:

i NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BLMRE ANI.) EDWRD E. GOLD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; SAll) HALMGRE ASSIGNOR TO SAll) GOLD.

Hose-Co-UPLiNe.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,738, dated May-52.4, 1892.

` Application tiled July 23, 1801,

To all whom imag concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN BALMORE and EDWARD E. GOLD, both citizens of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Hose-Couplings, of whichthe following is a spcciiication.-

vThis invention relates to coup'l'iugsfoi' hoseI or flexible pipe of the class known as directro port couplings, or those having axial seats the meeting faces of which occupy a plane perpendicular to the general direction of the pipe. Although designed especially for coupling the terminal hose-lengths connecting with r 5 the steam-heating and air-brake pipes of railway-cars, our improved coupling is nevertheless adapted to other purposes where sections ot' hose or flexible or jointed pipes are to be connected together.

Our invention relates to the construction of the seat and its mountingrelatively to the coupling-head and to the fastening devices for locking the two heads together. y

Figure l of the accompanying drawings is 2 5 a side elevation of a coupler constructed according'to our invention, the right-hand head being shown in vertical mid-section and the two heads being shown in the act of coupling. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section throught-he o coupling-heads, showing them coupled together. Fig. 3 is an .end elevation of one of the heads. Fig. is a cross-section on the line 9 9 in Fig. 2 and lookingr toward the seat. Fig. 5 shows the two seats removed, one being shown in mid-section and the other in elevation. Fig. 'is a rearelevation of one.

of the seats removed. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of one of the eouplingheads,showing the preferred construction for holding the 4o seat in place. Fig. 8 is a front elevation ot` the seat removed. Fig. i) includes three diagrams of diierent constructions-ot seats. Fig.

1G is a sectional elevation of a modification. Let A A designate the lengths of hose that are to be coupled together, and B li the respective coupling-heads, which are, attached thereto in any suitable way. In the construction shown the heads are formed each with a tnbularshank hover which the end ofthe hose 5o is drawn and fastened by n. clamp @but Serial No. 400.384. (No model.)

other constructions known in the art may be provided instead. The'heads are provided with some suitable means for fastening them firmly together. To this endthey are provided With any suitable reciprocal locking or 5 5 fastening provisions. In the construction shown in Figs. i, 2, and 3 these fastening provisions consist of a lockingprojection (l,

formedon ono side of thehead anda lockingarm D on the other side of the head, prejcctoo ing forward beyond the end of the body 'of the head and formed at its outer portion with a projection or hook d, adapted to engage thel projection C ou the side of a reciprocal coupling-head during the act of cou'l'rling. lly 65 `bringing the heads together in the position shown in Fig. 1, so that their respectivo lock ing projections engage one another, and then tilting the heads downward, the locking projections I) b ride over the projections C C, and 7o by being made slightly inclined they exert a thrust each against the opposite head, acting to force or wedge the two heads tightly t0- getherand thereby to press their respective lseating faces into such intimate contact as to 7 5 resist an internal fluid-pressure and prevent leakage.

Eaeheouplinghead is provided with a seat E, projecting slightly from its body-portion, as shown best at the left in Fig. l. When the 8o two heads are coupled together, the flat faces of their seats are pressed together face to face. In couplings of this character as heretoforey constructed the seats have been rigidlyfat- Y tache to the head and have commonly been madehof a somewhat yielding composition in orer that in case of wear or in case the heads do' not couple accurately those portions of the seating-faces which most closely approach each other,i andwhieh consequently 9c come-into contact first, shall yield suiiieientljT to admit the remaining portions of the seating-faces to come into contact. Notwithstamh ing the use of such yielding seats, couplings of this character as heretofore made have 9 5', been subjec'tto the disadvantage of a consid- ,erable liability to leakage, which has been duo in large part to the wear of the seating-faces at the lower sides, where 'they first come into contact in the act of coupliu". -Such leakage me lcoincidence with the face of the opposite seat.'

' hollow sphere.

I ternally,

is also due to abrasion or mechanical injury 'of the seats or to the imperfect fitting together of the locking-faces ot the coupling-heads, which, although made interchangeable, will sometimes wear unequally. 'lo overcome these disadvantages -is the principal object of our present Iinvention. To this end we coustructand mount the seat in such manner that it may rock or tilt relatively to the couplinghead, so that it may adjust itself to perfect -This tilting or rocking movement might he permitted to occur in one in any suitable manner to prevent its displacement, while yet admitting of the requisite freedom of motion.,

In the construction shown in Figs. l and 2' the seat E is made ot' a ring of suitable packing material, preferably what is known as asbestos composition, which is sufficiently hard and presents a smooth and frictionless surface. The spherical exterior surface of the seat comes into direct contact with thev hemispherical socket c in the end ofthe head; ln the act of coupling as the two seats come into contact their fiat outer faces meet together, and if cit-her projects more'at one side than another one or both ofthe seats will ex-f' ecute a rocking movement in its socket sufficicntly'to compensate forfthe inequality and bring both the seats into uniform contact over their entire seating-faces, thereby, as

the heads are yforced tightly together in the inalmovemcnt of the coupling action, inaking a uniformly-close jointraroid the entire circumference of the seating-faces. ln the case of a' composition or yieiding scat the pressure 1oy. which the seat is driven hack and forcedinto its'socket tends lo contract the opening through the seat, so that in course of time the opening would considerably diminish in size. To prevent this, we insert within the' seat a tubular thimhle F, of metal or other rigid material. It is desirable to guide the seat in such manner as. to limit its reciting "movement and to prevent its rof, which To this end we form the thimhle F with two opposite guiding-lingersf project inwardly and enter notches g at the hase of the socket. These notches have abrupt sides, which loosely engage the edges of the fingers and prevent their ci reumfercntial or rotative movement, while the o uter sides of the notches,whicli` preferably are @at obliquely, as shown in Fig. l, serve to limit the angular movement of the fingers, andy conseguenti y the extentoi the rocking or tilting of wear of their locking-faces.

tirarse movement ofthe seat. The greatest rockingl or-tiltingmovement will he in vertical direction, since the coupling-heads are locked tovgether by a vertical tilting movement, so that the rocking of the seats must compensate for the wear during this movement, as well as for the diierent extent to which different pairs,

of heads will engage in coupling, depending upon the different shape or different extent. The rocking movement in lateral direction will be much less, and in fact is scarcely appreciable.

Numerous diierent fastening devices may be devised for holding in the seat. The construction for this purpose that we prefer is the one shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings.A Theseat is loosely pivoted on a horizontal axis to the opposite end ol?` a springfastener H. which occupies ahorizontal plane and extends from the seat inwardly through the opening in the head, its sides flaring ontwardly sufticiently at the points marked h h to afford a. strong frictional engagement with notchesrl t', formed in the opening inthe head. The spring-fastener H is preferably. made of wire vbent to form the outward loops h h and between them an inward loop or eye 7' and with the ends k of thelwire turnedA outwardly and adapted to snap into pivotal holes in opposite sides of the opening through the seat, The outward tension of the spring keeps the pivotal ends k pressed firmly into the piv-- otal holes andk'eeps the loops 1L h in iirrn frictional contact with the notches t' ,(sothatva strong outward pull would be necessary to ds,

engagev the seat from the head. The loop j affords a convenient eye by means ol? which to take out the seat when tnis becomes necessary.V To remove the seat,a hook maybe inserted into the eye j, so that by pulling outwardly it draws the eye forward, and consequently pulls the loops h h inward enough to facilitate their disengagement .from the notches z' t', whereupon the springfastener and seat come off together. The interior of the head is thus rendered accessible. To reinsert theseat or to insert a new' one, the fastener H is first brought horizontally into the head, with its loops in coincidence with the notches-t t', through which they pass and heyond which they extend suiiiciently, so that when the seat reaches its proper position in the socket the engagement of the fastener 'sufices to hold it there. y

With the constructions heretofore in use the los' substitution of a new seatfor a worn or damaged one isa work'of considerable diiiiculty,

involving the unscrewing of. bolts and thetak!l into place. The train-hands may carry one or two extra seats in their` pockets ready t-o be substituted for any seat that may be found to leak. lThe fasteners II maybe already applied to the seats or they may be easily sprung into place by the trainmen.

The fastening device shown in Figs. l to G differs slightly from that.already described. It consists of two hooks II II,pivoted to the thimble F on diametrically-opposite sides, extending thence inward and formed with prongs or hooks which engage the throat of the socket for the seat. To enter the seat, it is only necessary to push it into the socket, whereupon the hooks will engage and hold it.l To remove the seat,'a special tool is necessary, which may beA inserted through the throat of the head to engage the hooked ends and draw them inward sufficiently to release them. This construction is well adapted for the purpose, but is more complicated than that first (lescribed and less convenient to operate, since it requires a special tool, and for these reasons the spring-fastener ll, first described, is pref erred.

I `ig. i) includes three diagrams, showing three different ways of forming the seat. In each case the seat is a segmcntfof a sphere. In the diagram E the seating-face a: is formed in a plantoutside of or beyond the center q/ of the sphere. This is the construction shown in Figs. l to G, whcrethc axis of the pivotal screws by which the seats are jointed to the hooks Il intersects the centex` l/,sothat theseats in their rocking movement roch on these pivots without displacing thc pivots. In thediagram E2 the seating-face :raf is in aplane intersecting the centery/,so thatr when two seats thus proportioned come into contactthey both become segments ot' one sphere. This is the construction shown in Fig. 7. liuringiherechine'movementof thcseats the axis of the pivots l.' 7. is displaced hy reason of being; outof coincidence with the een i ter y. 'lhis displacement is allowed for by lthe construction of the fastener ll, which isl j free to vibrate around an axis extending bctwcen the points of eontactof its loops h with 'lhe diagram E shows the seating-face :t x arranged inside of the center y of the sphere a proportion which reduces the friction between the exterior of the seat and -its socket, but which increases the displacement of thc pivots l.' 7.' during the rocking ot the sea-t. Either of the three constructions shown in Fig. Si is admissible with our invention.

(iur improved self-com-pcnsating seats for4 couplings are not limited in thpir application to conplingsmt the class already described,- but are applicable to any kind ofpipe-eouplings where seats on two reciprocal coupling- -heads or sections are forced togetherby thel locking oc coupling of the sections. As an example ol' one such modification we have shown in Fig. ldlhe application of our invention to a pipe-coupling with lateral ports, be.

stantly to keep it coupled.

inf?,T the Well-known Gold coupling. This coupling,` islso well known in the art as to re'- quire no description. The only respect in which it is altered to vapply our present invention to it is to form the coupling head or bowl with a spherical socket4 to receive the seat E.

Our invention introduces a feature of im. provement in the class of couplings known as directport couplings and the heads of which have a locking projection onrone side and a locking-arm projecting from the other side'. As heretofore constructed, the locking projection on the side of such a coupling-head has been made as a solid piece, with a wedging or eccentric locking-faceon'its rear sido to be engaged by a similar locking-face carried by the locking-arm of the opposite coup1ing. head. \Vith this construction 'there is an undue amount of friction in the act ot' locking the two heads together, this disadvantage being especially objectionable while automatically uncoupling by' the pulling,r apart of the cars, since there is liability that the respective locking-faces being in direct contact will fail lto slip past each other by reason of the tilting movement of the head as the hosesections arey pulled taut, which would cause the tearing or pulling oft' of one or both sections of hose. The wear is also objectionable, since it causes the coupling-heads in coupling to movein angular direction to a greater extent than they are designed to move. To overcome these difculties, we construct the lockinj,r projection C, not as a solid lug, but as a pivoted roller, as clearly shown in Figs.

2, and 3. This roller should bcnnadc of hardened steel or other suitable material and is formed on4 its outer sido with a flange of sufficient depth to engage t-he locking projection d, carried by the arm D of the opposite head. The roller C may be pivoted in various ways, that preferred being by forming on the side of the heada spindle or stud c which is turned down true and the roller placed over it, after which the stud is headed or riveted down to form a' ilange at its end, which enters a suitable counter-sink formed in the outer face of the roller. In the act of coupling this roller will turn on its stud, so that its contact with the locking-face d becomes a rolling con tact, whereby wear is greatly reduced and the friction. in coupling and uncoupling is decreased. 1When fully coupled, the frictional or wedgng engagement is amply sutcient to hold the heads firmly coupled vto-i gether, since the'oeking projections d bear upon the rollers C at the points lettered d in Fig. 1, where the locking-faces are almost per-v pendicular to the longitudinal axes of thc heads, so that the strain of the steam-pressure has no tendency to uncouple the head, while the weight of the coupling,r tends con Beyond the point 1' the face I curves backward sharply towardH its sont, in orderto provide for taking up an;

l'IO

unusual Wear. in' the ,couplings without necessitating; a mush vgreater tilting movement thereof.

coupling head or section having a semi-spherical socket, a seat consisting of a segment ofa sphere iitting in said socket', and a sprengt@ fastening engaging said seat, formed to maite elastic engagement with the interior of said head, whereby to hold the seat in place in said 'socket and adapted to yield sufficiently to enable it to be withdrawn to remove the seat. l

3'. In a pipe-coupling,th`,e combination 'of a coupling-head B, having socket e and grooves c' fi, rocking seat E and fastener H, consisting 'of 'pivotal ends engaging saidv seat,1and outwardly-springing portions h h, engaging. said grooves. v

` 4. ln a pipe-coupling, the combination of 'a coupling-head B, having socket e, rocking 'seat E and fastener- H, consisting ofpivotal ends engaging said seat.r outward loops hh, engaging the interior of the head, and intervening loop j for facilitating the pulling out of the fastener.

5. In a pipecoupling',the combination, of a couplingv head or section having asemi-splr'erical socket and stops g g, with a seat consisting oi a segment of a sphere fitting in said socket, and stop projections ff, engaging said steps to limit the movement of the seat.

' 6. In a pipeconpling, the combination of a ceuplingh'ead or section havingahemspheri. cai sachet, and notches g g nach of seelza dat seating-face around said central opfern. ing, and a thimble o r sleeve o'frgid material .within said ring, lining said longittidinsgl'paset, with a seat consisting -oi a segment sphere fitting in said 'socket and having rojections ff, entering said notches, whereby :therotativedisplacement'of the Aseat is pre- 5o l vented. 7. insa pipe-coupling,- the combination'of coupling-head having a direct longitudine i passage through it te inating in asest aty its end, a locking-arm 4on-one side projecting 55 beyond the plane of the seat, and a locking projection' on the other side, said locking-arm having a wedging-face d, formed in an eccentric curve extendingto the middle vline of the coupler at d and continued beyond said line in' a curve o'f .smaller radiustofform an inclined stop for limiting the' extent ot angular engagement of the respective coupling-heads. a 8. n, a pipe-coupling, the'coupling-head having a. hemispherical socket, iii-combinar 65' i tion with' a self-adjustingseat, consisting. of a4 ring of yielding material Vformed externally,

las a segment of al sphere, having al centra? opening, a lon gitndinal passage therethrough and anat outer seating-face around said cen- 7u .tral opening, and a thimble or sleeveborigid material vWithin said ring, lining said longi tdinal passage Aand preventing them-ward expansion of said ring by pressure applied to said seating-face, substantialylas set forth.

l9. A seat for. a pipe-coupling, consisting otlv i' a ring of yielding material formed externally` "as a segment ofasphere, having a central'` opening, a longitudinal passage therethrough,

sage and preventing the inward expansion etl said ring, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereuntosigned 1 our names Vin the p'esenceof two s'ubscribingj.l w

witnesses. 5 i

JOHN'BALMGREQ..."

EDWARD-IVE. GQLDN Witnesses: l GEORGE i-i. Fansite,- Oneness Fesses. 

